Posts Tagged ‘Treatment’

Health – A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Coaching – A method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills.

Health care or healthcare – The prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions.

You pick the sport

Unless you were born behind the iron curtain – you probably picked the sport that you most like to play, and that you have spent most of your spare time participating in. There could have been a number of reasons why you chose to start playing a sport, but guaranteed you would only continue to play the sport if you fell in love with it. Similarly, health coaching allows you to pick the game you want to play – weight loss, increased fitness, less allergies, digestive system that works better, greater flexibility, improved concentration, control over a habit or compulsion…

If you did live behind the iron curtain then they would have put you through a bunch of physiology tests and told you what sport you were going to play – based on their expert opinion. This is a bit like modern health care – if you have a health issue that you want help with you will consult an expert who will run a bunch of tests, tell you what they will do to fix it, and you will do as you are told. And it might not be the game you expected to play: You want to run up a flight of stairs, your doctor wants to reduce your blood cholesterol…

You have the aspirations

What is the highest high you want to attain in your sporting life? Under-16 grand final, or the Olympics; Getting to the shops without becoming breathless, or climbing to the peak of Mount Everest; To make daily living more comfortable, or to discover the limits of your human potential?

With health coaching you get the privilege of setting the height of the bar. With health care you will be given the goal – it is called a normal value – Blood pressure, heart rate, breathing capacity, blood cell count, liver function, cholesterol reading, aerobic capacity, sitting reach, Xray reading…

You turn up to training

Training was banned from the original Olympics – it was supposed to be a test of natural ability. Somewhere between then and now, we worked out that you could develop and maximise your innate potential by training and practising. And if you do the right quantity and quality of training – you can transform from a loser to a winner.

Health coaching says “now is the time to start training for a healthy future – to prevent injuries and to enhance your performance in the heat of the big game”. Health care says “get in there, just play, we’ll patch you up if you tear or break something, and then we’ll rehabilitate you back into the shape you were in immediately before the game”.

You do the work

The coach can’t do your training for you, your team mates can’t compensate for your lack of fitness. In health coaching, the coach designs and schedules your program, but at some point you have to follow the program to get the benefits and the rewards. In health care we hope that there is someone out there who can make us feel the way we would like to feel, “is there a pill that can make this go away?” “Can you put my back in for me?” “The doctor said that they will find the cure for this in a few years.” “I’m on the waiting list for some surgery to fix this problem once and for all!”

It’s all fun

Even the most professional athletes need to have fun to keep them in the game. When the joy has gone, the heart has left, and the motivation will quickly wane. With health coaching you get to participate, and you get to express your personality and you can factor in serious amounts of silliness. Health care is a serious business – you should be impressed by the years of training, the amount of technology, and the visible signs of wealth and authority. And please don’t laugh too loud – you might disturb the other patients!

Playing the game is as important as the results

When I was an athlete, I used to enjoy training as much as I did competing. And the moments of sheer joy and reward weren’t standing on some medal dais; they were the actual microseconds of absolute focus, coordination and motion that constituted each component of the performance itself.

Health coaching offers the opportunity to be in the now – and to discover the healing that comes from becoming more conscious and reconnected with your inner self. Health care will be satisfied when you achieve that negative test result, a normal reading, or the ablation of that pain or discomfort without the need for any form of awareness or awakening.

It’s up to you on game day

You’ve done the training, followed the advice, mastered the rules of the game and now you are faced with the ultimate challenge – will you respond or choke? Health coaching prepares you for the challenges of the real world, and assists you to develop the coping mechanisms, visualisations and affirmations that will equip you for the battles of life. Health care sits on the sidelines and waits for you to fail – it will be there to help you pick up the pieces and maybe come back to fight again another day.

You get the credit

What is the name of Tiger Woods’ coach? How about the guy who taught Michael Jordan how to dribble a basketball? Who gets paid more – the best player in the best team – or the fitness coach? In health coaching you are at the centre of attention – when you achieve your goals you will be the one that everyone notices – how good you look, how much stamina you have, how much energy you exude. In health care the good doctor gets the credit – he’s the one who cured your cancer, removed your pain, knew what to do to save your life, told you which pill would do the job.

You get the blame

Coaches might get sacked, but the players are the ones that bear the brunt of the blame. With health coaching you might dismiss the coach if you aren’t happy with the results, but at some point you have to take responsibility for the fact that it is your body, and you are in control – or should be. In health care you are absolved from your personal responsibility – “that doctor didn’t know what he was doing”, “that chiropractor couldn’t get my neck back in”, “the cure was worse than the disease”. This might sound attractive but it excludes you from the benefits of growth and true healing.

You get the medals

The coach doesn’t get to keep your medals, certificates, endorsements, awards – he just gets a photo of him standing next to you holding your rewards. In health coaching we love to stand alongside you and bathe in your glory. In health care there are no awards for the contestants – the practitioner gets the awards and certificates and the guest spot on Oprah Winfrey…

Who won?

Using a sporting metaphor might lead the reader to take on a competitive mindset: “So is health coaching better than health care?” “Should I choose which team I am going to follow and swear to never cross camps?” “If I see a health coach and still get sick does that mean if I’d been smarter and chosen health care – I wouldn’t have got sick – did I pick the wrong team?”

Now let’s take our competitive hats off – A coach who doesn’t want to work with a team of trainers and therapists in a cooperative effort, will have a short resume’. And health care that only responds to illness crises and lacks a bigger picture of prevention and wellbeing is a sick model.

The name “coach” allegedly originates from the multitasking skills associated with controlling the team of a horse-drawn stage-coach. The ability to get two, four or six horses all going in the same direction at the same time and at the same speed is one to be admired. Make sure that your health care relationships integrate a balanced and symbiotic mix of COACHING and CARE…

A Canadian study indicates there is no increased risk related to chiropractic treatment in the heated debate about whether neck adjustments can trigger a rare type of stroke.

Researchers say patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following a visit to a chiropractor than they would after stepping into their family doctor’s office.

The findings, published in the journal Spine, help shed light on earlier studies that had cast a cloud on the chiropractic profession and suggested that their actions resulted in some patients suffering a stroke after treatment.

“We didn’t see any increased association between chiropractic care and usual family physician care, and the stroke,” said Frank Silver, one of the researchers and also a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and director of the University Health Network stroke program.

“The association occurs because patients tend to seek care when they’re having neck pain or headache, and sometimes they go to a chiropractor, sometimes they go to a physician. But we didn’t see an increased likelihood of them having this type of stroke after seeing a chiropractor.”

Whether a person chooses to continue or discontinue chiropractic care depends upon how much the person values the care when compared with how much they feel it is costing them.

If the value appears greater than the cost the patient will continue care. If the cost appears to become more than the value they will discontinue treatment. The more we can increase the perceived value the less we need to worry about the cost!

VALUE INCREASERS:

1) Experiencing benefits from chiropractic care. Especially if those benefits are over and above the initial complaint or the benefits expected.

2) Increased education and understanding about chiropractic.

3) Third parties (family and friends) experiencing benefits: Another great reason to stimulate referrals quickly.

4) A “paradigm shift”: Changing people’s attitudes from “don’t fix it till it’s broke”, to one of maintenance, prevention and/or preferably wellness. That is “getting the BIG idea”!

COST INCREASERS:

1) Financial constraints: The amazing thing about this factor is that the more you can increase perceived value the less important this becomes. If you want it then you will find a way to pay. However cost is one of the main reasons people discontinue.

2) Time constraints: The old saying is that “time is money”. If it takes a person more than 20 minutes to drive to your practice; then they sit in your waiting room for 20 minutes; then it takes 15 minutes to get adjusted; then it takes 5 minutes to pay and reschedule – that’s 80 minutes out of their life. And then you tell them you want to see them 3 times a week? Big cost.

VALUE DECREASERS:

1) No or slow perceived response to treatment.

2) A reaction to an adjustment.

3) ‘Chiropractic consultants’: Rumor, opinion and hearsay can always affect the attitude of a new member of the chiropractic “family”.

4) Our attitude towards chiropractic: It ‘rubs off’ you know!

5) “The law of diminishing intent”: Ever made a new year’s resolution; then a few weeks later it just doesn’t seem that important any more? Day to day stresses and commitments and the distractions of “life” seem to get in the way. That is – the original commitment gradually becomes diluted to the point of becoming unimportant:

If we constantly feed, reinforce and nurture our goals and resolutions there is less chance of them fading and getting lost in this way. It is never safe to think that a patient has got “the big idea” now, and will hence have it forever – they need constant feeding, reinforcement and nurturing of their goals and resolutions.

TWO WAYS TO GET PEOPLE TO DO THINGS:

1) Control and manipulate: This is like trying to get a donkey to move by putting a carrot in front of its nose or hitting it from behind with a big stick. The problem with these techniques is that the reward or the punishments need to be continually increased to receive the same response over a long period of time.

In our health care setting this would take claiming bigger and bigger benefits to our patients as they feel better (the carrot), or convincing people that if they don’t continue to see us something terrible will happen to them (the stick). At some point in time the carrot and the stick will not be big enough!

2) Build relationships and teach by example: This is not about getting people to do what we want them to do: It is about showing people how they can get what they want – by following our example!

There have been attempts by some chiropractic skeptics and some so-called expert advisory panels that suggest that chiropractic adjustment of the neck carries some unacceptable risks. These all fail to quote legitimate research. So here’s some real research to clarify the risks…

The objective of this study was to estimate the risk of serious and relatively minor adverse events following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine…

They studied treatment outcomes obtained from 19,722 patients. Serious adverse events were defined as “referred to Hospital Accident and Emergency and/or severe onset/worsening of symptoms immediately after treatment and/or resulted in persistent or significant disability/incapacity”; and minor adverse events were defined as a “worsening of presenting symptoms or onset of new symptoms”.

Minor side effects with a possible neurologic involvement were more common. The highest risk immediately after treatment was fainting, dizziness or light-headedness. Up to 7 days after treatment, these risks were headache, numbness/tingling in upper limbs and fainting/dizziness/light-headedness.

Here’s some vital questions to ask yourself: Which member of your business…

1) Educates your practice members more simply and effectively than you do?

2) Listens to your patients’ “dirty laundry” and counsels and advises them at the same time?

3) Stimulates more referrals than any other marketing source than you could ever invent?

4) Is more likely to hug, wipe tears, encourage and listen to the people who pay your bills?

5) Placates disgruntled customers who are sick of being kept waiting, or haven’t had their questions answered to their satisfaction?

6) Would like to be more involved in the healing process than you recognise and give credit for?And all we worry about is did they take the correct money, make the next booking correctly, get people into the adjusting room when we needed them there, keep the kids quiet in the play area, and still manage to book in 3 new patients who rang while 5 people were queued at the front desk?

After asking yourself the above questions; next ask your best CA/s: “Would you like to be more involved in the healing process, and learn some new skills?” You may be surprised by the answers you get.

Here’s three ways you can up-skill your most valuable business asset:

A) Involve them in the interview or case history process - Use pre-formatted questionnaires to save you time and actually improve your record keeping. A good CA will have already heard most of the person’s life, family and health history, and will probably know more about what is really worrying the person, before they even see your face: Your CA is the ideal person to select the most appropriate paperwork for each new client, and then to follow up at a pre-determined time to review the questionnaire again.

B) Get them trained in aspects of the examination procedures - There are some amazing technologies which improve your objective analysis of your patients’ state of wellbeing, and some of these can be trained and delegated to a tech-CA.

C) Select some therapeutic modalities which can be administered by an assistant under your oversight - Consider this - As your practice expands you may assume that the way to increase your volume and turnover is to employ an associate DC. Most associate DCs will drain up to 60% of the money they generate. How about delegating some of the less skilled and time effective activities to well trained staff who work for an hourly rate? You could dramatically increase your patient flow and diversify your services (and increase customer satisfaction) at a fraction of the overhead.